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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26268790">By any other name</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoknight/pseuds/echoknight'>echoknight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kanera Week 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Kanera Week, Kanera Week 2020, Vulnerability, i'm so emo over them, these two i swear</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:33:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26268790</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoknight/pseuds/echoknight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><i>“I barely know anything about </i>you<i>,” Hera countered. She swiveled in the pilot’s chair to face him. “I’ll make you a deal. You tell me something true about yourself, and I’ll tell you something true about myself.”</i><br/><br/>Shortly after Kanan joins Hera on the Ghost, they decide to share some truths with each other.<br/><br/>Written for Kanera Week 2020, <i>Day 4: trust / vulnerability</i>.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kanan Jarrus &amp; Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kanera Week 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kanera Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>By any other name</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“That was incredible,” Kanan said. “I can’t believe we actually escaped.”<br/>
<br/>
He was breathless and his heart was pounding, even though Hera was the one who had done all the impressive evasive flying while he just clutched at his armrests. She had somehow broken a blockade of dozens of TIE fighters and a Destroyer to escape from Carida.<br/>
<br/>
“I’ve been running blockades since I was 18, Kanan,” Hera replied, her voice somehow still calm despite flying several loops in a row before jumping to hyperspace. “That was nothing.”<br/>
<br/>
“I didn’t know that,” Kanan said. He smiled as he imagined teenage Hera, taking on the Empire with the determined set of her jaw and her preternatural flying abilities.<br/>
<br/>
“You don’t know very much about me,” Hera said with a laugh.<br/>
<br/>
“I’d like to change that,” Kanan replied. Hera quirked an eyebrow at him, expression skeptical. “I’m serious! I’ve been on this ship for a month and I still barely know anything about you, other than your serious addiction to caf.”<br/>
<br/>
“I barely know anything about <i>you</i>,” Hera countered. She swiveled in the pilot’s chair to face him. “I’ll make you a deal. You tell me something true about yourself, and I’ll tell you something true about myself.”<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, I asked you first,” Kanan protested. Hera shrugged.<br/>
<br/>
“Life isn’t fair. Are you going to play or not?” Hera tilted her chin up a little, a challenge. There was humor in her eyes, but curiosity as well, and some wariness. Kanan wondered if she knew how open her face was, how easy it was to read her expressions. He had created his mask so long ago, he hardly remembered how to be vulnerable, how to let another person see his thoughts just by looking at him.<br/>
<br/>
“Okay,” Kanan said, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. He opened his mouth to say something witty but evasive, <i>my favorite color is blue</i> or something like that, but when he looked into Hera’s eyes he couldn’t help but be honest, truly honest.<br/>
<br/>
“My real name isn’t Kanan,” he said, the words surprising him more than Hera, who didn’t react beyond a slight frown. “Well, I guess it is my ‘real’ name now. I don’t go by my old name anymore.”<br/>
<br/>
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. It had been so long since his mouth had formed these words out loud. It felt wrong to give voice to them now, after keeping them a secret for the past decade. He looked at Hera again, quietly watching him. He could trust her; he felt it with an odd certainty that he had with almost nothing else.<br/>
<br/>
“Caleb Dume,” he exhaled. “My name was Caleb Dume. Before.”<br/>
<br/>
<i>When I was a padawan</i>, he thought but did not say aloud. Some things needed time.<br/>
<br/>
Hera waited a few seconds to see if he would say anything else, then nodded. She reached across the space between them and gently clasped his hand.<br/>
<br/>
“Thank you for telling me,” Hera said, her green eyes trained on his. He immediately missed her touch when she let go of his hand.<br/>
<br/>
“Your turn,” Kanan said, smiling weakly.<br/>
<br/>
Hera sat back, chewing her lip thoughtfully.<br/>
<br/>
“My father in Cham Syndulla. Leader of the Twi’lek resistence on Ryloth,” she said, eyes trained on a point somewhere above Kanan’s head. There was a determined set to her face. She had recognized the gravity of the truth Kanan gave her, and reciprocated it with her own, but he could tell it was somewhat difficult for her to share it.<br/>
<br/>
“He must be proud of you,” Kanan said softly. “About the work you’re doing against the Empire.”<br/>
<br/>
Hera’s lips quirked up in a humorless smile.<br/>
<br/>
“Not exactly,” she said tightly. Kanan waited for her to share more, as she had offered him space. Hera sighed.<br/>
<br/>
“He thinks I should have stayed on Ryloth, to help free our people. I want <i>all</i> the people in the galaxy to be free, not just the Twi’leks. And I couldn’t do the work I wanted to do from Ryloth,” she said.<br/>
<br/>
“I think the work you do is amazing,” Kanan murmured, the words coming out before he could stop them. Hera gave him a sardonic smile. “I do! You’re one person fighting against the entire Empire, and you accomplish so much and help so many.”<br/>
<br/>
Hera’s gaze shifted again as she looked at him. Was that – tenderness? Gratitude in her eyes?<br/>
<br/>
“I’m not one person anymore,” she said quietly. Kanan swallowed, suddenly able to hear his heart pounding in his chest. Force, he loved her voice, and when she looked at him like that…looked at him like he was special, like he meant something. Special to her.<br/>
<br/>
Kanan cleared his throat. Hera had made it clear that she was not interested in him that way, and he would respect her boundaries. She deserved more than he could ever offer anyway.<br/>
<br/>
He could still flirt with her, though.<br/>
<br/>
“I think it’s my turn again. My favorite color is green,” he said.<br/>
<br/>
Hera grinned and rolled her eyes. “Oh, really,” she said.<br/>
<br/>
“Wow, someone thinks highly of herself,” Kanan deadpanned. “It has nothing to do with you. I’ve always loved the color green.”<br/>
<br/>
Hera laughed then, and Kanan felt unduly proud of himself. He loved her laugh.<br/>
<br/>
“It’s your turn,” he nudged.<br/>
<br/>
“Okay. My favorite color is blue,” she replied, throwing up her hands.<br/>
<br/>
“Which just so happens to be the color of my eyes,” Kanan said, raising his eyebrow. Hera rolled her eyes again.<br/>
<br/>
“Someone thinks highly of himself,” she mimicked. “Anyway, your eyes aren’t <i>exactly</i> blue. They’re more turquoise.”<br/>
<br/>
Kanan’s brain almost short-circuited at the thought that Hera had noticed and thought about his eye color, but he quickly recovered.<br/>
<br/>
“Likely story,” he said smoothly. He stood up and stretched. “Come on, we’re still a couple hours out, and I’m getting hungry. We can continue the truth-telling over dinner.”<br/>
<br/>
“You’re always hungry,” Hera retorted, but she stood too, smiling. “Fine, let’s eat.”<br/>
<br/>
They walked out of the cockpit still bickering, hyperspace swirling behind them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm so emo over these two, it's ridiculous. There is nothing sexier than a relationship built on mutual trust and clear communication!<br/><br/>Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading these little fics, I love love love seeing your comments and kudos.<br/><br/>You can find out more about Kanera Week 2020 at kaneraweek.tumblr.com, and I'm at skywalkeh.tumblr.com.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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